There are a plethora of apps available to help you find restaurants nearby when you’re in an unfamiliar city, but let’s be honest, we all just want to open Google Maps and call it a day. But sometimes Google Maps gets it wrong. But it doesn’t have to.

Google Explore Feature

The latest version of Google Maps makes it easier than ever to explore the places you’re visiting. Simply open maps and let the app use your GPS to locate your current location.

From the explore tab you can find restaurants, bars, attractions and more – with a variety of sub-categories to choose from that meet your tastes and desires.

A new feature that is available in Google Maps is the ability to tell you how likely you will like a restaurant. For example, in this instance, I am exploring restaurants in Altstadt in Hamburg , Germany.

I’ve chosen the first restaurant on ‘The Foodie List’, curated by Google, based on reviews and more data than we can wrap our heads around.

Clicking on the restaurant, ‘Zweierlie Kuche’, which has an average rating of 4.8 stars I can see something called ‘Your match: 72%’.

So while this restaurant gets 4.8 stars based on other Googlers reviews, Google gives me a 72% likeliness that I’ll like it. I’m now much better positioned to make a decision as to whether I’ll visit this place. I usually aim to find places 80% or higher.

Google Maps Explore Restaurants

Google Maps Restaurant View

How it All Works

Several things are going on here. First, you need to go into the app and tell Google what your tastes are. What types of food do you like and dislike. This is the starting place for these recommendations.

Second, you need to do reviews. Each restaurant, bar, store, hair salon, or whatever is categorized in Google Maps. This is done through the millions of contributors that participate in the Google Local Guides program and your reviews when you go to Google Maps to give a place a Star Review.

When you review a restaurant, Google can start to learn what you like and dislike through the collection of data in the background, with all these categories and details assigned to each restaurant. Trends will start to emerge, Google is all about data and trends.

The more places of various types you review the more data Google has to play with and the better recommendations you’ll receive on where to eat the next time you’re in a new city.

Google Maps Places You’ll Like Settings

Other Resources

Just in case you don’t want to rely solely on Google to help you find a good meal I recommend checking out my other post about 5 Best Travel Apps for Android and iOS. One of them is called Culture Trip which can help you get local recommendations for your next destination. You can also check out Sygic Travel in your browser or on your phone to get recommendations for attractions and restaurants.